Illusions
by xXEimiXx
Summary: Bella awakes from an car crash with no memory of the past two years. It seems that she is now engaged to Mike and getting ready to play happy families. But something doesn't seem right. Cue devilishly handsome Edward Cullen. ExB
1. Chapter 1

The first thing that registered in my mind was the warm sweaty hand that clasped my left one. My body felt stiff as I tried to free myself from the hand's grip. My eyes remained shut and I could hear an intake of breath in reaction to my movement. My hand was pulled closer to whoever still held it. I decided it was time to open my eyes. I blinked slowly, once, twice then a third time before I could open my eyes fully. The light was blinding. A harsh florescent bulb pulsed above my head and did nothing to help my disorientation. Where am I? The last thing I remember was…wait, what was the last thing I remembered?

My eyes frantically searched the room in the hope of finding some answers. I was met only by clinical, white hospital walls and a bewildered looking Mike. Wait Mike? What is he doing here? A flash of recognition struck my brain. Ah yes, Mike Newton. My boyfriend of two months now. His bright blue eyes were weary but his hair was perfectly gelled into "casual" disarray as usual. I was touched but also slightly weirded out at the same time at his dedication to be by my side after going out such a short period of time. The shock evident in his face made me realise that perhaps I wasn't supposed to be awake yet. Oh dear.

"Mike, what happed? Why am I in hospital" My voice cracked slightly as a sign of misuse. This can't be good.

"Well…you were in a car crash. The truck hit the driver's side of your car straight on. You're lucky to be alive". He flashed me one of his boyish grins and gently caressed my fingers. As his fingers brushed mine I felt something smooth twist around my finger. I glanced down to see a diamond ring twinkling back at me. My jaw dropped.

"Mike, what the fuck is this? Did you slip this on my finger while I was _passed out?!" _

His expression became one of bewilderment and he looked at me as though I was nuts.

"Bella, we've been engaged for 6 months now…Our wedding is in 3 months…"

Now it was my turn for my jaw to drop.

"6 months? But we've only been going out for 2! Cut the crap! Why the hell is that ring on my finger?!"

"Bella honey, we've been going out 2 years. We've even been planning to start our own little family! The accident must have affected your memory." His voice grew sad, though he held nothing on what I was feeling. Apparently I couldn't remember the last two years of my life! Wait a minute… my hands flew to my stomach.

"I'm not, am I?" He shook his head dejectedly. My look of relief only seemed to make things worse, he finally released me as dropped his head into his hands.

"BELLA!!" a loud voice boomed.

"EMMETT" I cried in reply. My favourite set of giant, bear arms enveloped me in a hug and proceeded to squeeze the life out of me.

"Can't…br-eathe…..!" The large bear of a man finally let go but only stepped back enough to look at my face. God I loved Emmett. He was built like a tank but had the heart of a teddy bear. He was the best big brother any girl could ever ask for. He beamed at me, showing all his pearly whites. Obviously Mike wasn't the only one who had been waiting for me to wake up.

"Thank god your awake Bells, we were all getting really worried." he glanced back over his shoulder and I realised that Emmett hadn't been the only one to barge into the room. There stood the rest of my family. Renée stood next to my step father Phil, who clutched her to his side, both with looks of relief on their faces. I always thought that I looked just like Renée with our similar hair colour and same shaped face only she was a lot prettier. Charlie stood a foot away from them looking equally as pleased but somehow still a little awkwardly. His mousey brown hair was ruffled and unkempt, possibly a sign of nights spent here at the hospital. A broad grin spread across his face as he saw me smiling back at him. The next two people were not quite family but close to it. Alice stood at 5 foot nothing with short spiked black hair that seemed to be trying to make up for her lack of height. I could tell she was itching to rush over and jump on top of me but was afraid it might hurt me. She settled instead to remain bouncing on the spot, looking like a jack in the box. The sight caused me to chuckle. Oh how I loved my dear friend Alice. The last but certainly not least person who I saw was none other than Edward Cullen. His oddly bronze hair was perfectly dishevelled in a way that just had to be natural and his eyes were his usual piercing forest green. Despite his rumpled close and the large red marks on his left cheek from falling asleep against what looked like a textured wall, he managed to look as though he had stepped off a runway. But this was not unusual. The man looked like a Greek god! Unfortunately he was my brother's best friend, making him automatically off limits. Oh well I guess I still had…. Mike….*sigh*

"Wait. Just how long exactly have I been out?" Mike was the one to answer me

"About a week and a half. Though the doctors said you should have been awake within a week. That's why we were all so worried" a small crease formed in between his eyes as if to emphasise his point. I turned to face the others who had now encircled my bed.

"Eh, I've been talking to Mike, apparently I can't remember the last two years of my life." I cleared my throat slightly. "Am I really engaged to him?" I saw a grimace grace the faces of my family, except for Edward. He opted for sending a murderous glare at Mike.

"Yeah it's true. The wedding is in two months. You asked me to be your maid of honour" Alice's bell like voice rung out through the room, confirming my worst fears. From what little time I had spent with Mike I knew he was an alright guy and fairly nice too, but nothing to get your pulse going. Why had I agreed to marry him? He must have asked me when I was drunk. That had to be it! And I was too much of a wuss to tell him no the next day. I tried to convince myself that this was the case but it didn't seem right. I could tell that none of my friends and family approved. The must have tried to talk me out of it, especially Alice she's certainly not one to keep he opinions when it comes to my love life to herself, and I must have refused. I must have really grown to love this man. I turned to look at him again and his baby blue eyes stared into my muddy brown ones. He smiled lovingly at me and took my hand in his. Maybe I did love him. It seemed he felt that way about me.

Edward was the next to speak up.

"So wait, you can't remember _anything _from the past two years? _Anything?" _He seemed to be hinting at something in his words, but I couldn't quite figure out what. Had something big happened in those years? Oh no I was secretly ill wasn't I? Or had I lost my job? But I loved my job! I worked so hard to get where I was. The suspense was killing me.

"No I don't think so. Why what happened? Is there something I should know?" I know my voice had become frantic but all I could see when I searched Edward's face for answers was a look of sadness. Oh no what had I done?

"Don't worry babes, it's nothing". He seemed too quick to reasure me. Was there something he didn't want me to know? And babes? Did Mike seriously just call me babes? It was my turn to glare daggers at Mike but he seemed oblivious to the change in my expression.

I sudden felt a wave of weariness crash down on me as though this short conversation had sapped me of all my energy. I was slowly becoming aware of aches and pains in my right arm and my leg. I assumed the pain killers were starting to wear off. Edward seemed to notice my eyes begin to droop as he suggested they all leave and let me get some rest. I smiled softly at him and snuggled down deeper under my duvet. I knew all the problems and questions that were ricocheting around my head would be there once again when I woke up, but of now I was too tired to care. The last thing I felt was a pair of lips brush gently against my forehead. I silently hoped they didn't belong to Mike.


	2. Chapter 2

By the end of the week I had recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital. Renée and Charlie wanted me to prolong my stay but Mike was having none of it. He insisted that I come home, claiming to be fully capable of nursing me back to health. I had looked at him sceptically when he said this but reassured myself that my injuries weren't too bad. I had broken my right arm and my left leg was battered and bruised but I was mostly okay other than that. I had hit my head hard apparently and the doctors had had no way of predicting the severity of my condition until I awoke. Thankfully however, excluding the memory loss no other damage had been done.

The car ride home with Mike was awkward to say the least. We made the trip home late in the evening and at first he tried to make small talk. He attempted to remind me of different things we had done over the past two years, such as trips and nights out, but finally gave up when I sat there unresponsive struggling to find words to say. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Mike was able to relay piece after piece of personal information about me, from my favourite meal to the different ways I liked to be touched, but there I sat hardly knowing a thing about him. A sense of unease washed over me as I realised that to me, he didn't seem like a loving fiancée but an obsessed stalker. He finally admitted defeat to my silence and I tried to distract myself from these disturbing thoughts, watching the city lights fly past the car window.

When we finally reached the house I was somewhat taken aback. It was my apartment. When I had first discovered I now lived with Mike had I automatically assumed I had moved in with him. It seemed this was not the case. This sparked the question as to where Alice was living now. I couldn't begin to imagine what my mornings would be like. I was now without my personal raven haired, pixie alarm clock. Mike must have caught sight of my puzzled expression, as he offered me an explanation. "What happened to Alice? About a year ago she decided to move in with Jasper. You searched for a new room mate for a few weeks but you couldn't really find anyone. The rent started to become a bit much to handle so I moved in." A broad grin broke out across his face. Obviously he had been very happy about this development. I wondered if I had been.

Upon passing over the threshold of my apartment I sighed in relief. I had feared that with Mike now living there I was about to face many changes that had been made to my humble abode. Thankfully this was not the case. The walls of the living area were still a soft cream, lined with bookshelves and a small space for a T.V. Even my old chocolate leather couch was resting where it was, though it undoubtedly looked a bit more worn. I stumbled across to the kitchen with the use of my crutch and found that all was still in order. The white fridge still hummed continuously in the corner and a pile of dirty dishes still inhibited the kitchen sink. I smiled. The only noticeable difference I could find was in the photographs that lay about the joint room. While most still held the family photos I remember, two new photos stood on the mahogany coffee table in front of my couch. One I expected. It was of Mike and me sitting side by side at a formal dinner table, his arm resting across my shoulders. His face was bright and cheerful; with a smile so wide it must have hurt. I too was smiling but looking closely I saw it seemed forced and didn't quite reach my eyes. The second photograph took me by surprise. What it showed left me reeling. Edward and I sat on a chequered picnic blanket in what looked to be my parent's backyard. His eyes smoldered and his infamous crooked grin graced his face as he looked towards the camera. I on the other hand sat facing towards him, beaming for some unknown reason. There was little space between us and our hands almost touched. But this was not the only surprise awaiting me in the frame. Tucked into it's corner was a strip of four small photographs, obviously captured by a photo booth. Each one was of Edward and me; pulling funny faces, ridiculous poses or even just flat out laughing uncontrollably at the other person. A flurry of questions bombarded my mind. What is the meaning of this? Is that really Edward? Edward, my brother's best friend? Edward, the Greek god? Edward, the man who I'd had a huge crush on for as long as I could remember? This made no sense. Since when had he and I become so chummy? I knew that Edward was a nice guy, from the occasional conversations that I had shared with him over the years and because Emmett had always been a good judge of character, but this friendship that we evidently shared was too foreign a concept for me to begin to comprehend. I knew his friendship must have meant a lot to me. The significance of his photos being framed and displayed in my home was evidence enough.

I glanced up to see Mike glaring haughtily at the photos at which I had been gazing. It seemed Mike didn't approve of my apparent close bond with Edward. That or he was jealous there were less pictures of himself with me. I decided against asking Mike how long I had been friends with Edward, I had a feeling it was a touchy subject. I ignored the ever prevailing questions that still bounced around my head and ambled awkwardly into my bedroom. My injured leg was proving to be quite the inconvenience. Again I was overwhelmed with relief. All was as I had left it. I collapsed onto my bed, at ease to finally be alone. Since the accident, I had never been allowed out of sight. It seemed to have slipped the minds of my friends and family that I was a creature of solitude and needed to be alone from time to time. I deeply inhaled the scent of my pillow, and relished in its comforting smell. But something was not quite right, another odour had mingled with the sweet aroma I was used to, and my mind snapped back to reality. I lived with Mike now. This was no longer just my apartment or more importantly my bed. I shared it with …Mike. I let out a soft groan which was muffled by my pillow. This new life I had carved out for myself over the past two years was definitely going to take some time to get used to.

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**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading and especially thanks to those who have reviewed! Sorry I took so long to upload the second chapter. I've been trying to figure out the time frame for different events in the story. Please R&R!! :D**

**Amy :D xx**

PS: I fixed some of the typos and spelling mistakes that were in chapter one.


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